Caen
Caen is the physical world were the events of the ''Iron Kingdoms ''fictional universe happen. All most all of the known history of the planet is from Immoren , the major continent where the Iron Kingdoms are situated. Explorers from Immoren has also discovered the continent of Zu and has established trade. In addition the Orgoth who invaded Immoren also came from an unknown place situated beyond the oceans. Creation Creation stories of Caen differs from religion to religion. In lands dominated by Humanity the most widely believed story about the origins of the world is that Menoth the Lawgiver arose from the formless chaos that predated Creation and shaped Caen and its sun as an extension of his imperative to bring lasting order.Having arisen self-made, Menoth adopted a form that pleased him, one that was later echoed among his greatest creation: mankind. This god strode Caen in the primal days, and mankind arose from Menoth’s shadow as it fell upon the still-forming waters of the world as they withdrew from the land. Menoth imposed his rigid order upon the turning of the seasons and the cycles of life and death. In his wake, humanity arose and began to gather into tribes. From unformed chaos also came the Devourer Wurm, also called the Beast of All Shapes, a bestial and forever changing monstrosity that would quickly become Menoth’s greatest foe.Iron Kingdoms RPG Core Rulebook The Devourer Wurm spawned an endless variety of ravenous beasts and the horrors of the wilderness. All predators and dangerous beasts are thought to have arisen from and be connected to the Wurm, and since the dawn of time they have beset the offspring of Menoth and the works of civilization. The Wurm was filled with an endless hunger and sought only to eat and kill, to destroy and rend what had been created. Menoth knew the Wurm at once for his enemy and they would clash again and again in an unending hunt, a battle that has occupied both of these primal powers since the dawn of creation. The first brutal and titanic clashes between Menoth and the Wurm took place across the surface of Caen, shattering the land and tearing great trenches in the deep oceans. Where one was thrown by the other, great chasms opened to divert the course of rivers, while the earth puckered with wounds that became volcanic eruptions of lava. The hammered and broken land gave rise to jagged mountains and deep valleys. Eventually this chase led Menoth and the Wurm away from the physical world to Urcaen, a spiritual mirror of Caen. Trollkin, ogrun, and gobbers have their own creation myths which diverge from Human views. These races do not dispute that Menoth once walked Caen, gave rise to humanity, and is involved in an eternal clash with the Devourer Wurm.However Dhunians believe that Dhunia was the first to emerge from the endless chaos that once was all that was. Her body became Caen. When Dhunia awoke on the first day, she was alone. The emptiness saddened her, and she began to weep. Her tears created the rivers, lakes, and oceans. Then living creatures and plants sprang up; verdant pastures and towering forests grew; and buzzing insects, chirping birds, and docile beasts soon populated the lands. To light the world she made the sun for the day and the three moons Calder, Laris, and Artis to shine amid the stars at night.Iron Kingdoms Unleashed Core Rulebook All life came from Dhunia and she was filled with intense joy, which became the first summer. After some time, the Great Mother saw that the creatures multiplied and filled the lands, eating the plants faster than new ones could grow. Soon they would not have enough to eat. She knew that the great summer had to end so the grasses and trees could sleep and awaken refreshed in the spring. All living things had to be part of the cycle of birth, growth, and renewal; Dhunia knew she must allow death and destruction into the world. To do this, Dhunia birthed the first and most formidable predator, the Devourer Wurm. The Devourer was a bestial, forever-changing monstrosity that spawned endless horrors and ravenous beasts. Its rage manifested as storms and earthquakes that scattered the abundant herds and heralded the end of the first life cycle. The Wurm brought hunger and predation. When the first living creature killed and ate another, the Wurm was there, tasting blood and seeking to slake its inexhaustible hunger.The Dhunian races trace their origins to the often violent mingling of these two primal powers. The Wurm is said to be engaged in ongoing and repeated ravaging of Dhunia, the proof of which exists in the aftermath of every destructive storm and flood. In the earliest days, the Dhunian species were born of this coupling and it is for this reason that these races have qualities of both their divine mother and father—able to be savage and violent yet noble and honorable. Dhunians do not believe that Menoth is self-created, instead Dhunia wished a reprieve from the Wurm and so fostered a great hunter from the greatest of her children, which became Menoth, who was set upon the task of hunting the Devourer. The goddess bestowed on him the power, virility, and strength to fight the Wurm. As he hunted across Caen, humanity arose where he passed and proved to be a race consumed by the same desire to subjugate the wilderness. Menoth eventually chased the Wurm off Caen and into a shadowy realm born of the Wurm’s nightmarish dreams, a place humans call Urcaen. References Category:Geography